Affective iconic words benefit from additional sound-meaning integration in the left amygdala

Age-related decline in cognitive flexibility and inadequate preparation: evidence from task-state network analysis

Behavioral evidence showed decreased cognitive flexibility in older adults. However, task-based network mechanisms of cognitive flexibility in aging (CFA) remain unclear. Here, we provided the first task-state network evidence that CFA was associated with inadequate preparation for switching trials by revealing age-related changes in functional integration. We examined functional integration in a letter-number switch task that distinguished between the cue and target stages. Both young and older adults showed decreased functional integration from the cue stage to the target stage, indicating that control-related processes were executed as the task progressed. However, compared to young adults, older adults showed less cue-to-target reduction in functional integration, which was primarily driven by higher network integration in the target stage. Moreover, less cue-to-target reductions were correlated with age-related decreases in task performance in the switch task. To sum up, compared to young adults, older adults pre-executed less control-related processes in the cue stage and more control-related processes in the target stage. Therefore, the decline in cognitive flexibility in older adults was associated with inadequate preparation for the impending demands of cognitive switching. This study offered novel insights into network mechanisms underlying CFA. Furthermore, we highlighted that training the function of brain networks, in conjunction with providing more preparation time for older adults, may be beneficial to their cognitive flexibility.

Effects of Iconicity in Recognition Memory

Iconicity refers to a resemblance between word form and meaning. Previous work has shown that iconic words are learned earlier and processed faster. Here, we examined whether iconic words are recognized better on a recognition memory task. We also manipulated the level at which items were encoded-with a focus on either their meaning or their form-in order to gain insight into the mechanism by which iconicity would affect memory. In comparison with non-iconic words, iconic words were associated with a higher false alarm rate, a lower d' score, and a lower response criterion in Experiment 1. We did not observe any interaction between iconicity and encoding condition. To test the generalizability of these findings, we examined effects of iconicity in a recognition memory megastudy across 3880 items. After controlling for a variety of lexical and semantic variables, iconicity was predictive of more hits and false alarms, and a lower response criterion in this dataset. In Experiment 2, we examined whether these effects were due to increased feelings of familiarity for iconic items by including a familiar versus recollect decision. This experiment replicated the overall results of Experiment 1 and found that participants were more likely to categorize words that they had seen before as familiar (vs. recollected) if they were iconic. Together, these results demonstrate that iconicity has an effect on memory. We discuss implications for theories of iconicity.

Processing different types of iconicity in Chinese transferred epithet comprehension: An ERP study

Transferred epithet can be regarded as a reflection of semantic markedness since the modifier and the modified conflict with each other and lead to semantic deviation; yet the corresponding processing mechanism is less studied. The present study examined the neurocognitive mechanism of Chinese transferred epithet comprehension by employing ERP technique from the perspective of Iconicity of Markedness. Participants were required to read materials with different types of semantic markedness, namely unmarked linguistic expression (literal sentences) and marked linguistic expression (transferred epithets), and then judge whether the targets were words or pseudo-words. In terms of semantic markedness, the targets are words reflecting the unmarked semantic meaning of literal sentences and marked semantic meaning of transferred epithets respectively. The target words after transferred epithets elicited a larger N400 and a smaller LPC than those in literal sentences. These results suggest that processing sentences with marked and unmarked iconicity involve different neural mechanisms, with the former requiring more cognitive efforts to extract the similarity features.

Novel sonification designs: Compressed, iconic, and pitch-dynamic auditory icons boost driving behavior

With the development of connected vehicles, in-vehicle auditory alerts enable drivers to effectively avoid hazards by quickly presenting critical information in advance. Auditory icons can be understood quickly, evoking a better user experience. However, as collision warnings, the design and application of auditory icons still need further exploration. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effects of internal semantic mapping and external acoustic characteristics (compression and dynamics design) on driver performance and subjective experience. Thirty-two participants (17 females) experienced 15 types of warnings - (3 dynamics: mapping 0 vs. 1 vs. 2) × (5 warning types: original iconic vs. original metaphorical vs. compressed iconic vs. compressed metaphorical auditory icon vs. earcon) - in a simulator. We found that compression design was effective for rapid risk avoidance, which was more effective in iconic and highly pitch-dynamic sounds. This study provides additional ideas and principles for the design of auditory icon warnings.

Does De-Iconization Affect Visual Recognition of Russian and English Iconic Words?

Iconic words constitute an integral part of the lexicon of a language, exhibiting form-meaning resemblance. Over the course of time, semantic and phonetic transformations “weaken” the degree of iconicity of a word. This iconicity loss is known as the process of de-iconization, which is divided into four stages, and, at each consecutive stage, the degree of a word’s iconicity is reduced. The current experimental study is the first to compare and contrast how English (N = 50) and Russian (N = 106) subjects recognize visually presented native iconic words (N = 32). Our aim is two-fold: first, to identify native speakers’ ability to perceive the fine-grained division of iconicity; and second, to control for the influence of participants’ native languages. This enables us to provide a more exhaustive analysis of the role of iconicity in word recognition and to combine empirical results with a theoretical perspective. The findings showed that the speakers of these languages are not equally sensitive to iconicity. As opposed to the English-speaking participants, who showed almost similar performance on each group of iconic words, the Russian participants tended to respond slower and less accurately to the words that were higher in iconicity. We discuss the major factors that may affect iconic word recognition in each language.

The Relationships Between Initial Consonants in Japanese Sound Symbolic Words and Familiarity, Multi-Sensory Imageability, Emotional Valence, and Arousal

Sound symbolic words consist of inevitable associations between sounds and meanings. We aimed to identify differences in familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, and arousal between Japanese sound symbolic words with voiced initial consonants (VCs; dakuon in Japanese; e.g., biribiri) and Japanese sound symbolic words with semi-voiced initial consonants (SVCs; handakuon in Japanese; e.g., piripiri), and between VCs (e.g., daradara) and Japanese sound symbolic words with voiceless initial consonants (VLCs; seion in Japanese; e.g., taratara). First, auditory imageability and arousal were significantly higher in VCs than SVCs, whereas familiarity, tactile imageability, and positive emotion (emotional valence) were significantly higher in SVCs than VCs. Second, visual imageability was higher in VCs than VLCs, while familiarity and positive emotion were higher in VLCs than VCs. Initial consonants in Japanese sound symbolic words could be associated with specific subjective evaluations such as familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, and arousal.

Neuroimaging of valence decisions in children and adults

To date, the neural underpinnings of affective components in language processing in children remain largely unknown. To fill this gap, the present study examined behavioural and neural correlates of children and adults performing the same auditory valence decision task with an event-related fMRI paradigm. Based on previous findings in adults, activations in anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus were expected for both positive and negative valence categories. Recent behavioural findings on valence decisions showed similar ratings and reaction time patterns in children and adults. This finding was successfully replicated in the present study. On a neural level, our analysis of affective language processing showed activations in regions associated with both semantic (superior and middle temporal and frontal) and affective (anterior and posterior cingulate, orbitofrontal and inferior frontal, insula and amygdala) processing. Neural activations in children and adults were systematically different in explicit affective word processing. In particular, adults showed a more distributed semantic network activation while children recruited additional subcortical structures.

Frontotemporal dementia, music perception and social cognition share neurobiological circuits: A meta-analysis

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease that presents with profound changes in social cognition. Music might be a sensitive probe for social cognition abilities, but underlying neurobiological substrates are unclear. We performed a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies in FTD patients and functional MRI studies for music perception and social cognition tasks in cognitively normal controls to identify robust patterns of atrophy (FTD) or activation (music perception or social cognition). Conjunction analyses were performed to identify overlapping brain regions. In total 303 articles were included: 53 for FTD (n = 1153 patients, 42.5% female; 1337 controls, 53.8% female), 28 for music perception (n = 540, 51.8% female) and 222 for social cognition in controls (n = 5664, 50.2% female). We observed considerable overlap in atrophy patterns associated with FTD, and functional activation associated with music perception and social cognition, mostly encompassing the ventral language network. We further observed overlap across all three modalities in mesolimbic, basal forebrain and striatal regions. The results of our meta-analysis suggest that music perception and social cognition share neurobiological circuits that are affected in FTD. This supports the idea that music might be a sensitive probe for social cognition abilities with implications for diagnosis and monitoring.

Semantics Based on the Physical Characteristics of Facial Expressions Used to Produce Japanese Vowels

Previous studies have reported that verbal sounds are associated-non-arbitrarily-with specific meanings (e.g., sound symbolism and onomatopoeia), including visual forms of information such as facial expressions; however, it remains unclear how mouth shapes used to utter each vowel create our semantic impressions. We asked 81 Japanese participants to evaluate mouth shapes associated with five Japanese vowels by using 10 five-item semantic differential scales. The results reveal that the physical characteristics of the facial expressions (mouth shapes) induced specific evaluations. For example, the mouth shape made to voice the vowel "a" was the one with the biggest, widest, and highest facial components compared to other mouth shapes, and people perceived words containing that vowel sound as bigger. The mouth shapes used to pronounce the vowel "i" were perceived as more likable than the other four vowels. These findings indicate that the mouth shapes producing vowels imply specific meanings. Our study provides clues about the meaning of verbal sounds and what the facial expressions in communication represent to the perceiver.

Iconicity ratings for 10,995 Spanish words and their relationship with psycholinguistic variables

The study of iconicity, or the resemblance between word forms and their meanings, has been the focus of increasing attention in recent years. Nevertheless, there is a lack of large-scale normative studies on the iconic properties of words, which could prove crucial to expanding our understanding of form-meaning associations. In this work, we report subjective iconicity ratings for 10,995 visually presented Spanish words from 1350 participants who were asked to repeat each of the words aloud before rating them. The response reliability and the consistency between the present and previous ratings were good. The relationships between iconicity and several psycholinguistic variables were examined through multiple regression analyses. We found that sensory experience ratings were the main predictor of iconicity, and that early-acquired and more abstract words received higher iconicity scores. We also found that onomatopoeias and interjections were the most iconic words, followed by adjectives. Finally, a follow-up study was conducted in which a subsample of 360 words with different levels of iconicity from the visual presentation study was auditorily presented to the participants. A high correlation was observed between the iconicity scores in the visual and auditory presentations. The normative data provided in this database might prove useful in expanding the body of knowledge on issues such as the processing of the iconic properties of words and the role of word-form associations in the acquisition of vocabularies. The database can be downloaded from https://osf.io/v5er3/ .

Emotional Voice Intonation: A Communication Code at the Origins of Speech Processing and Word-Meaning Associations?

The aim of the present work is to investigate the facilitating effect of vocal emotional intonation on the evolution of the following processes involved in language: (a) identifying and producing phonemes, (b) processing compositional rules underlying vocal utterances, and (c) associating vocal utterances with meanings. To this end, firstly, I examine research on the presence of these abilities in animals, and the biologically ancient nature of emotional vocalizations. Secondly, I review research attesting to the facilitating effect of emotional voice intonation on these abilities in humans. Thirdly, building on these studies in animals and humans, and through taking an evolutionary perspective, I provide insights for future empirical work on the facilitating effect of emotional intonation on these three processes in animals and preverbal humans. In this work, I highlight the importance of a comparative approach to investigate language evolution empirically. This review supports Darwin’s hypothesis, according to which the ability to express emotions through voice modulation was a key step in the evolution of spoken language.

Affective Arousal Links Sound to Meaning

Prior investigations have demonstrated that people tend to link pseudowords such as bouba to rounded shapes and kiki to spiky shapes, but the cognitive processes underlying this matching bias have remained controversial. Here, we present three experiments underscoring the fundamental role of emotional mediation in this sound–shape mapping. Using stimuli from key previous studies, we found that kiki-like pseudowords and spiky shapes, compared with bouba-like pseudowords and rounded shapes, consistently elicit higher levels of affective arousal, which we assessed through both subjective ratings (Experiment 1, N = 52) and acoustic models implemented on the basis of pseudoword material (Experiment 2, N = 70). Crucially, the mediating effect of arousal generalizes to novel pseudowords (Experiment 3, N = 64, which was preregistered). These findings highlight the role that human emotion may play in language development and evolution by grounding associations between abstract concepts (e.g., shapes) and linguistic signs (e.g., words) in the affective system.

Affective iconic words benefit from additional sound-meaning integration in the left amygdala

Recent studies have shown that a similarity between sound and meaning of a word (i.e., iconicity) can help more readily access the meaning of that word, but the neural mechanisms underlying this beneficial role of iconicity in semantic processing remain largely unknown. In an fMRI study, we focused on the affective domain and examined whether affective iconic words (e.g., high arousal in both sound and meaning) activate additional brain regions that integrate emotional information from different domains (i.e., sound and meaning). In line with our hypothesis, affective iconic words, compared to their non‐iconic counterparts, elicited additional BOLD responses in the left amygdala known for its role in multimodal representation of emotions. Functional connectivity analyses revealed that the observed amygdalar activity was modulated by an interaction of iconic condition and activations in two hubs representative for processing sound (left superior temporal gyrus) and meaning (left inferior frontal gyrus) of words. These results provide a neural explanation for the facilitative role of iconicity in language processing and indicate that language users are sensitive to the interaction between sound and meaning aspect of words, suggesting the existence of iconicity as a general property of human language.